LOS ANGELES – The battle for Los Angeles was a lopsided affair on Wednesday night at Staples Center as the Los Angles Clippers proved their city supremacy over the Los Angeles Lakers 114-89 in the coveted “Hallway Series.”
“Both teams can say that this game did not mean anything,” said Clippers coach Doc Rivers about the rivalry. “Yes, it does not mean anything in the big scope of everything, but when you play people you know, those games are fun. You always want to beat guys that you see all of the time. You could see the energy in the building.”
Blake Griffin dominated the Lakers defense nearly finishing with a triple-double as he scored 27 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists. Chris Paul was back to his usual self after getting in foul trouble in a loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night. Paul finished with 24 points and 11 assists.
“I’ve been trying to come out like that every night and be aggressive with my shot,” said Paul. “If it’s not going in then just keep shooting it, and eventually it will go in. The keys are playing with that pace, going downhill, and being aggressive.”
Matt Barnes also played well against his former team finishing with 19 points and a game-high 5 three-pointers. DeAndre Jordan added 10 points and 13 rebounds and J.J. Redick had 10 points as all five starters had scored in double-figures by the end of the third quarter.
Griffin had a SportsCenter top 10 highlight real dunk in the waning minutes of the second quarter that had Kobe Bryant and the rest of the fans in attendance in awe. J.J. Redick grabbed a Matt Barnes miss and found Griffin wide open in the lame as he leapt through the air untouched for a beautiful windmill jam.
“J.J. drew two defenders and I think they thought he was going to CP and I came down the middle and the floor just opened up,” said Griffin of the dunk.
After the first quarter, Fergie, who was sitting courtside next to Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, grabbed a microphone and walked to center court to perform her song, L.A. Love (lala). Ballmer could be seen dancing wildly from the baseline.
“I’ll put it this way, he [Steve Ballmer] danced exactly as I expected him to,” joked Griffin. “His enthusiasm is amazing, it was a cool atmosphere.”
The Clippers dominated the contest from the opening tip as they were up 10 points after the first quarter, 22 points at halftime, and 36 points going into the fourth quarter. Neither team’s starters were on the floor for the fourth quarter as both teams’ benches had a chance to battle against each other.
The Lakers season struggles continued as Bryant had one of his quietest scoring games of his career with just 4 points. Kobe was scoreless at halftime, and despite a two-day rest between games, was an anemic 2-12 from the field. Bryant was able to contribute in other ways as he also had 8 rebounds and 7 assists.
“They are just better,” said Bryant about the Clippers. “They have just got better players that just come at you in waves. They are just deeper. They have got a lot of shooters on the floor and we are short-handed.”
Jordan Clarkson led the Lakers in scoring with 14 points, which was a clear indicator that Bryant had no support from his teammates on offense and seemingly nobody showed up to play defense.
Starting point guard Ronnie Price missed the game for the Lakers after breaking his nose on Monday night in Portland and experiencing flu-like symptoms in the days following.
The sole highlight for the Lakers came off of a Nick Young steal with three minutes left to play. Young stole the ball from childhood friend, Jordan Farmar, and threw a half-court alley-oop lob to Clarkson. Young, known by the pseudonym “Swaggy P” got fouled on a three on the next play to complete a four-point play.
The Clippers have won nine of their last ten games against the 16-time NBA champion Lakers and five consecutive games, their greatest stretch against the Lakers in franchise history.
“They are a very good team,” said Lakers head coach Byron Scott. “I do not consider them a physical basketball team, but they came out, punched us and we were soft.”
The Lakers have now lost six of their last eight and are 11-25 on the season.
GAME NOTES:
The stars were out at Staples Center as many celebrities were seated courtside including boxing great, Gennady Golovkin, LA Kings star Jeff Carter, new Dodgers shortstop Jimmy Rollins, pop-star Fergie, and reality TV stars Khloe Kardashian and Kendall Jenner.
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